For the 2017 session that begins Tuesday, Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, and Rep. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka, have filed bills (SB 234 and HB 847) seeking $35 million annually from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund for the St. Johns River, its tributaries or the Keystone Heights lake region in North Florida. Also, Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, and Rep. Thad Altman, R-Rockledge, have filed proposals (SB 982 and HB 1033) that would direct $30 million to restoration of the Indian River Lagoon system.
Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, has also included the potential of increasing Legacy Florida funding in his pursuit of $2.4 billion in state and federal money to acquire 60,000 acres of farmland south of Lake Okeechobee for a reservoir. The reservoir is intended to redirect the flow of polluted freshwater that is now going from the lake into estuaries to the east and west.
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3/6/2017
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